Why We Keep Fighting
by xxemily92xx
Summary: Titans, as they were called, appeared from seemingly nowhere, crawling up from the depths of caverns and deep within the mountains, bringing about a second and greater age of darkness. Thousands were wiped out in the first night. Walls were created, and the remainder of Middle earth took shelter within them, putting aside their differences in the interest of survival. HOBBIT/AOT


**A/N: Sooo...I'm not sure what this is :P Unbeta'd and probably pretty lame, I really needed to kickstart my muse for my other story The Gifted so I wrote this :)**

 **Hopefully its not too terrible!**

/

Bilbo frowned as he readjusted the straps of his gear, the leather feeling just a little too loose. His pulse hammered and his hands shook, fingertips fumbling slightly with the metal buckle as the crashing outside continued, the stone floor reverberating with each deafening bang.

"Pull yourself together," he muttered under his breath, straightening once he felt the straps were tight enough. He'd seen what happened when they weren't, and the thought had him shuddering.

 _No. Focus on the now, this is what you trained for, after all._

Squaring his shoulders, the hobbit forcibly pushed through the swarm of brown uniforms towering over him, the cacophony of Men and Elf voices filling the room and bouncing off the stone walls. Again, the floor beneath them rumbled.

"Hobbit!" a familiar voice called out over the din, and Bilbo swung around with a salute.

"Sir!" he called back, as Dwalin's bald head appeared from around the corner, the dwarf gesturing impatiently as Bilbo jogged over. A beefy hand patted him on the shoulder, and it was all he could do to not stumble from the weight of it.

"Right, we've got three in the gates and another six just outside. Most everyone's still trying to get this evac going, so we're gonna have to work with what we've got," he barked, the pair steadily making their way out of the wide stone entryway.

High on the wall as they were the sound of cannon fire and raised voices washed over them, far louder than it had been in the tower they'd exited. Bilbo swallowed roughly, glancing at each stricken face and blood spattered uniform as soldiers landed and launched themselves around them.

"-listening to me?"

Bilbo flinched and spun to Dwalin, fixing the dwarf with a sharp nod. Eyeing him for a moment, Dwalin placed a hand on his shoulder once more, bending slightly to look into the too-wide emerald eyes.

"You'll be fine, lad. Between Thorin and I, we've trained you into one of the best so believe me when I say you'll kick ass," the dwarf assured, and Bilbo nodded stiffly. "Besides, you made it into the company, didn't ya? That right there means a hell of a lot, not to mention you're the only hobbit who made it through," he finished with a grin.

Something loosened in the region of Bilbo's chest, and he found himself nodding again, still unable to trust his voice. Dwalin was right; he'd made it into the company, what was this by comparison?

As if sensing his thoughts, the dwarf opposite him grinned wider, straightening and clapping him on the shoulder once more. Bilbo winced.

"Speaking of, the rest of the company is up here and waitin' for ya. Can't begin without our hobbit, can we?"

As if on cue, another dwarf appeared before them, dark hair a mess of tangles above his head and brown eyes wide. Without a word, he grabbed Bilbo by the arm and tugged him forward into a run.

"Not good, not good, not good, not good-" he muttered madly to himself, ignoring the look shared by the pair running behind him.

"Kili? Kili, what's going on?" Bilbo called out, struggling to be heard over the cacophony of the wall.

"Uncle's already moved, there was too much pressure on the dwarves plugging the hole-" Kili was cut off as a deafening boom split the air, the wall beneath them shaking with the sound. Soldiers everywhere stumbled for a moment, before throwing themselves back into what they were doing with renewed speed.

"Bastards got here fast," Dwalin growled, as the three continued running as fast as their 3DM gear would allow. Bilbo tried to ignore the dread curling up in his gut like a lead weight.

If Thorin had moved early, did that mean…?

Images flicked through his mind, a colossal titan with white flesh and thick canines- Bilbo shook his head. Thorin had fought the beast before and cut off an arm, surely it wasn't still alive?

 _What else could have left a hole in the wall though?_

A smaller dwarf was waiting for them when the trio finally came to a stop, the small knitted gloves he wore beginning to fray from nervous fiddling. Twisting around, he huffed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank Mahal you're here. The others already…they…" biting his lip, he took a deep breath.

"It's okay Ori, Kili already filled us in," Dwalin said gently, "do you have any idea where they are now?" Straightening, Ori nodded.

"Thorin took Fili, Gloin and Nori to take out the targets near the gates. Bofur and Bifur are helping the evacuation along and the others are with the troops from the Elven Quarter, ordered to pitch in where they can," he finished in a rush, and Dwalin turned to look out towards the outer wall in the distance, eyes narrowed.

The titans had hit them unexpectedly the first time, all those years ago.

Middle-earth was immersed in a war the likes of which never seen before. Darkness grew like a disease, infecting the land and leaving naught but death and destruction in its wake. Led by a monster of unimaginable power, the army of orcs lay waste to anything in their path until a great battle took place and an unlikely hero rose. The moment the Dark Lord fell, a wave of power broke over the gathered armies, sending the orcs fleeing. Sauron was no more.

Until a second wave rang out merely days later.

Titans, as they were called, appeared from seemingly nowhere, crawling up from the depths of caverns and deep within the mountains, bringing about a second and greater age of darkness.

Thousands were wiped out in the first night.

Walls were created, and the remainder of Middle earth took shelter within them, putting aside their differences in the interest of survival. Five walls were built, with the outermost wall thinner and focused on agriculture. Walls Manwe for the inner council, Varda for the elves, Aule for the dwarves and Eru for the men, with the outer wall of Yavanna housing the remaining hobbits and farmers.

Combined under a council of elders from each race, soldiers split into three factions to protect the walls; the garrison, the military police and the scouting legion. Men and elves made up most of the military, the dwarves creating the 3DM gear the soldiers used and focusing on ways to improve their creations rather than using them, most dwarves preferring their feet stay firmly on the ground. Hobbits generally didn't join the military, instead focusing on the agricultural workings and food for the population, trusting the council to protect them.

Years passed, and the inhabitants of the walls all but forgot about the danger lurking outside.

Until Wall Yavanna fell.

It was less a battle and more an extermination. Hobbits were not known for their fighting prowess, and most were dead within the first hour. Bilbo lost both his parents in a shower of blood, the red colouring his nightmares for years after and the screams of his mother ringing in his ears. Thrown over the shoulder of a ranger, the fauntling was brought to a wizard and evacuated from the battle, the scent of death and cannon smoke lingering even within the main wall.

The years after were no kinder, and many of the remaining Shire folk died of starvation as the men within the wall were ill equipped to feed more mouths, particularly without the outer wall harvests. With citizens going hungrier by the moment, a desperate plan was put into place. A second extermination, poorly concealed as a campaign to retake the Shire wall was announced, resulting in more death again. Bilbo, too young to march out the gate, looked on as cousins and hobbits he had grown up with armed themselves with weapons they barely knew how to use.

Very few returned.

Cursing his uselessness, Bilbo did something no one expected. Making a vow to himself and enlisting the help of the wizard who saved him, he became the first hobbit to join the military. Ignoring the jeers and pitying glances his presence attracted, Bilbo kept his head down and tried his best, training day and night to become one of the best in his class. Catching the eye of his dwarven drill instructor Balin Fundin, Bilbo was shifted to train with the only other dwarves in the military at the time. Three years later, Bilbo and several of his closest friends from training were chosen to join the company of Thorin 'Oakenshield' Durin of the survey corps special operations squad, something only the most elite of the group were able and made up of purely dwarves (and one hobbit).

Only scant days later Wall Eru was attacked.

Bilbo clenched his hands into fists as another ear shattering boom shook the stone beneath his feet. He was helpless in the Shire, watching his family and friends be slaughtered as he alone was saved.

It would not happen again.

"Right," Dwalin said, cracking his knuckles, "Ori, you make your way to Bifur and Bofur, see if you can speed up the evacuation. Kili, Bilbo, you're with me, we're gonna help out at the gate with Oakenshield. Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Ori, Kili and Bilbo chorused, saluting sharply.

"Right then, let's move!" Dwalin ordered with a grin, throwing himself from the wall in a smooth movement. A second later and Bilbo was doing the same, the familiar feeling of falling tugging at his insides for a moment before he was moving, jetting through the air behind his squad leader impossibly fast as the buildings around them swept by.

Ori cut off to the left, and Kili moved up to swing in line with Bilbo. Neither of them had ever physically fought a titan, and Bilbo prayed their training would be enough. Hands tight on his gear, the hobbit kept his eyes scanning his surroundings, wary of attack.

He didn't have to wait long.

With a yell, Kili was forced to dodge further right as a titan snapped its jaws beside Bilbo, the monster barely missing the dwarf's lines. Arcing around it, Bilbo distracted it as Kili prepared to move in with his blades. They could deal with a 3-4 metre. The creature twisted its head around to stare at him, before launching off the ground and through the air with incredible speed, Bilbo barely able to spin out of the way with a curse.

"Abnormal!" Kili called out, and Bilbo spun around to face where the titan landed.

"We're going to have to take it out before catching up to the rest of the squad," he reasoned to the dwarf, who nodded.

"Right, just like we practiced. Looks like the best time to strike will be just after it…it…" Kili trailed off, the blood draining from his face, eyes wide. Facing back to the titan once more, Bilbo gasped.

"Oh no," he whispered.

The titan's head twisted around to face them, a man clad in military uniform hanging from its grinning jaws. His eyes were wide, as blood steadily streamed from his mouth and his body shook.

"Help…me…"

The titan shifted its teeth, biting down in a spray of blood and entrails as the man screamed.

"N-no…" Kili whispered, as the monster threw its head back and the man disappeared. Bilbo felt his hands shaking, knuckles white where they gripped his gear. Unaffected, the titan stared at them, muscles bunching up in its arms and legs.

"Kili move!" Bilbo yelled, as the pair shot high into the air, the titan sweeping below them. With a snarl, Kili pivoted mid-air, pulling out his blades with a ring of metal. Launching himself beside the beast, Bilbo kept its eyes on him as Kili shot down behind it.

With a heavy thump, the titan slipped from its place on top of the building to fall to the ground below, a pair of deep gashes steaming from the back of its neck.

With a nod to each other, the pair were moving through the air again as fast as they dared. Dwalin would not be impressed if they were overly late, and Thorin less so. Ignoring his nausea, Bilbo pushed thoughts of the man from his mind, biting his lip.

He couldn't be distracted now.

Screams and the scent of blood flooded their senses, and the hobbit had to keep telling himself this was Wall Eru, not Yavanna. There was still hope.

 _Thorin is here this time,_ Bilbo reminded himself, and the thought seemed to ward off most of the nausea and the shaking of his hands. Captain Oakenshield was one of the best in the military, possibly _the_ best, and that had to count for something, right?

Slowly, the sound of cannon fire grew louder, the towering form of Wall Eru steadily looming closer. There was a lot of smoke, and Bilbo squinted.

"Over there!" Kili cried out, and Bilbo followed his line of sight.

There, just to their right, lay a wide hole in the wall, figures zipping around it on 3DM gear. Already, boards of wood and other materials were being used to plug in the hole, a group of dwarves protected by a squad of elves working hurriedly on it.

"The others must be on the outside," Bilbo called out, and Kili gave him a thumbs up, angling his gear and shooting vertically along the wall.

Moments later, the pair were standing on top of Wall Eru, shoving past the sea of soldiers and ears ringing from the bang of cannons and the yelling of orders. Eyes scanning, it wasn't long before they had found their squad and the pair were vaulting back over the wall, swinging down and across to the others.

Mostly, Bilbo focused on not thinking about being back inside Wall Yavanna.

Hooking on to an old, dilapidated building, Bilbo swept down to cut the back of a titan creeping towards Nori who was preoccupied with a 7 meter. In the span of a breath, Bilbo whipped out his swords and slashed through the thick flesh with a meaty thunk and an eruption of steam. Not missing a beat, the hobbit was back in the air before the titan had hit the ground.

"'Bout time you two showed up," Nori called up to him with a grin, and Bilbo shot him a weak smile.

"Where's squad leader Oakenshield?" he yelled back, and Nori pointed to his left.

"Thorin's down there," he shot back, swinging up beside Bilbo and now Kili, "careful though, he was mixing it up with some big suckers."

With a nod, Bilbo and Kili made their way to the right, Kili veering off once he found his brother Fili.

Behind them, the hole was getting closer to full in increments. Attracted by the sound and scent, the titans made their way closer, and Bilbo wasn't sure how long they could keep them away as another four appeared over the hill in the distance.

Anxiety tensed his muscles, and the hobbit felt coldness creep up his insides, heart hammering.

 _Just take a deep breath, focus on-_

"Baggins!" a deep voice yelled, and on instinct Bilbo shot up, feeling the hair of a titan brushing his bare foot. The brute must have come from behind him, he realised. Looking down at the huge teeth barely a meter below, Bilbo twisted through the air, swinging outward before letting his momentum whip him the opposite way, his blades cutting through titan flesh as he swung past.

"For the love of Mahal, _be careful_ ," Thorin snapped once the hobbit reached him, and Bilbo nodded, feeling terrible. He was close enough to see the stricken look in the captain's eyes, barely having a moment to wonder over it before they were moving forward, arcing through the air toward a pair of titans moving too close to the gate.

"We keep them off the gate until the green flare goes off, understood?" the dwarf barked.

"Yes sir!"

Shooting ahead in a burst of speed, Thorin swung upwards before spinning down in a flash of metal, slicing easily through the first titan. Gripping his gear tighter, Bilbo moved toward the second. Hearing his approach, the titan spun its head around, mouth opening impossibly wide as its lower jaw disconnected with a loud click.

"Abnormal!" Bilbo screamed, twisting his descent to allow him to swing past the monster.

The titan shifted, its head passing close enough to Bilbo for him to spin back, slicing his blades though the neck. Rather than go down, the creature spun around, launching itself at him anew.

 _Dammit, not deep enough._

Thorin cut across, blades flashing as he cut through the back of its neck. A moment later he was in the air again as another two titans replaced the pair they'd taken out, Bilbo moving up beside him.

There were so many, it seemed for every titan cut down another took its place, and before long Bilbo was shaking with exhaustion, body covered in blood. The sun had moved lower in the sky and still the battle went on.

Another squad joined them at some point, Bilbo recognising Captain Legolas Greenleaf and his elves shooting past in a graceful blur. Even Thorin looked pleased to see them, or rather, he didn't scowl quite so heavily as they passed them. Which, Bilbo supposed, he could take as a good omen.

Slicing through another titan with a grimace, Bilbo looked up to find Thorin. It wouldn't do to get separated here. There, to his left, Thorin grappled with a 10 metre, using it to distract the 12 metre behind it before moving in for the kill.

And so the dwarf failed to see the smaller titan below him.

As if in slow motion, Bilbo saw the monster bunch up its leg muscles in preparation to strike. Without a moments hesitation the hobbit was rocketing through the air, pushing his gear to the limit as he cried out a warning.

" _Thorin!"_

The dwarf barely had the chance to turn around before Bilbo was slamming into the titan's head, intercepting its upward leap and sending it reeling sideways. Twisting, Bilbo barely had enough time to blindly jet upwards and out of the way before the creature was snapping at his legs, a hairs width behind. With a yell and a jet of steam, Thorin sliced through it's neck quickly.

 _Well that worked out better than I thought…_

No sooner after thinking this, Bilbo was ripped out of the air unceremoniously as a titan somewhere to his right snatched his line. Bracing himself, he cried out in pain as he was smacked onto a rooftop, his ears ringing and head pounding. Dimly, he realised he was being dragged.

" _Bilbo!"_ Thorin roared, and Bilbo blearily opened his eyes to look up.

There, lifting his line with a massive hand was the wide grin of a titan, the canines smeared in a rusty brown and lips spattered with red. Struggling in the creatures other hand, an Elf struggled, arms pinned to his sides in an iron grip.

Hearing a snarl, Bilbo glanced up to see Thorin cutting through another titan, desperately trying to make his way through.

Bilbo just tried not to be sick as the world spun.

Feeling himself being lifted upside down, he tried to keep himself calm as the titan's face appeared below him, the monster dangling him above it. Its grin widened, and Bilbo felt a rush of fear as it opened its mouth, lowering him.

" _Come on Thorin, please, please, please-_ " he muttered in fear, every nerve ending in his body alight with terror.

"Bilbo, hang on!" Thorin yelled, and Bilbo knew he wouldn't make it.

In the span of seconds, the hobbit felt his life flash before his eyes.

The warmth of the sun, playing on bright green hills and his mother's wide smile-

Blood and gore, the smile of the titan who devoured her-

Hunger, biting cold, fear-

The company, training together and teasing, playing games when Balin or Dwalin weren't paying attention-

Thorin, personally training him, _you look more like a grocer than a soldier-_

Closing his eyes, Bilbo froze, heart in his throat. He never did get to tell Thorin how he felt…

 _Maybe next time,_ he thought a little hysterically, as he held in a sob.

Only to snap both eyes open at the inhuman shriek.

At the last moment, the titan snapped its head to the side, sinking its teeth into the elf in its other hand. A gush of red sprayed over him, and Bilbo gagged at the copper taste flooding his mouth but couldn't bring himself to move, muscles locking up in horror.

The elf screamed, hand clasping Bilbo's leg as his spine snapped, his other arm ripped off and lower half of his body inside the beasts mouth. Unable to look away, Bilbo held the elf's gaze, unflinching as more bone snapped, something thick and wet sticking to his cheek. The elf shook violently, mouth gaping open and closed before teeth snapped shut over his shoulders, decapitating him in one quick movement. The grip on his leg convulsed as the nerves in the arm twitched, but Bilbo couldn't even bring himself to kick it off.

Frozen, he stared blankly as the titan dangled him above its mouth, elven blood dripping down from his body onto its face.

The feeling of falling barely registered as the monster dropped him towards its jaws-

And then he was being swung sideways, eyes wide as someone gripped him tightly, shooting up and over the wall impossibly fast as another blur felled the titan in a ring of steel-

The world spun, and the sounds around him kept fading out. It took him a moment to realise he was no longer moving, staring down at the crimson coating his hands as his vision teased black on the edges.

"-ilbo!"

So much blood, so much death-

"Bilbo!"

It was everywhere, the sickening scent cloying his senses-

" _Bilbo!"_

He was being shaken, and blearily, he blinked up at the person.

"…Thorin…?" Bilbo whispered, blinking slowly, and the dwarf opposite him cradled his face in both hands. He could feel them shaking, small tremors running through the dwarf's fingers.

"Are you alright? Were you injured?" Thorin asked quickly, eyes searching for any discernible wounds. Weakly, Bilbo waved a hand at him.

"I'm… I'm fine…"

"There's so much blood-" The dwarf broke off as Bilbo caught his face in his hands, forcing Thorin to focus on him.

"The blood isn't mine, I'm ok," he said carefully, and Thorin's features showed relief for a split second before darkening in anger.

"Then what were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed!" he snapped, and Bilbo's eyes widened in shock, "Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive on the front lines?"

Bilbo stared down at his hands, unable to meet the furious cobalt blue opposite. A hand returned to his cheek, and the hobbit's gaze snapped up in confusion.

The dark, furious expression had melted to one of concern and a softness the hobbit would not have known him capable of, the hard lines of his Corporal's face fading into an expression which left Bilbo's insides giving a jolt, even as he automatically berated himself for the foolish reaction.

"I've never been so wrong, in all my life," Thorin said softly, arms wrapping around Bilbo tightly. The scent of blood and leather swept over him, but under all that was something different, something completely Thorin. Hesitantly, Bilbo returned the embrace, eyes closing as he felt warmth flood him.

Above them, the cannon fire began to die down as the green burst of a flare shot over them, the shade reflecting off the dull tin of the roof they were perched on.

"We did it," Bilbo muttered with a wide smile, and Thorin's lips quirked up slightly.

"Not bad…for someone who looks more like a grocer," Thorin agreed, and Bilbo huffed an exhausted laugh. Pressing his head to the hobbit's forehead, Thorin smiled down at him, the sight making Bilbo's heart stutter painfully.

Later, Bilbo would claim it was the euphoria from the end of the battle, the surge of confidence and victory that came with finally being on the winning side against the titans. The way his chest felt full in a way it hadn't since he was a child, the tingles of warmth tickling his insides.

Bilbo pressed his lips to Thorin's in a chaste kiss.

Cobalt eyes widened in surprise, and Bilbo pulled back as quickly as he could, face burning red. A thousand apologies ready on his tongue, Bilbo opened his mouth-

Only to gasp as Thorin surged forward and slanted his mouth against Bilbo's, a desperation in the movements that made heat pool in his stomach and electricity shoot up his spine. Small hands twisted into braided hair earning a low growl as Bilbo felt himself shift forwards, closer, until they were chest to chest.

Broad hands smoothed down the back of his uniform, one cradling the back of his neck and the other resting against his spine as Thorin deepened the kiss and the outside world faded away, ignoring the blood and grime. Bilbo shivered before-

A sharp wolf whistle shattered the moment like a sledge hammer, and Bilbo found himself tumbling backwards unceremoniously out of the dwarf's lap, Thorin steadying him just before he fell back against the roof. Bilbo felt his face heat and he ducked his head forward to rest against Thorin's uniformed chest, a small giddy smile still tugging at his lips.

"Nice work Uncle!" Fili cheered as he swung past, grinning smugly. "You just won us Dwalin's meat rations for the next week!"

"Fili, Mahal help me-"

"Do we get to call Bilbo Uncle Boggins now?" Kili called out, and Bilbo couldn't help chuckling as he glanced up at Thorin's rapidly colouring face.

" _Kili_ ," the dwarf growled, but his only response was a bout of fading laughter as the two continued on to the other wall.

Bilbo smiled, and before he knew it that smile had grown into a chuckle, and the chuckle into bright laughter. Thorin seemed startled for a moment before his own lips quirked up, a brightness in his eyes that wasn't there before. They must have made quite the picture, Bilbo thought to himself, spattered with blood and bruises but still smiling.

Because despite the horrors that they had seen that day, all the death and the destruction, the blood spilled and the screams- Bilbo cut that line of thought off, his laughter dying down to a small smile.

 _Despite_ the end of the world around them, it wasn't over.

They could still laugh, they could still smile.

Bilbo took Thorin's larger hand in his, squeezing softly.

They could still be happy.

 _And so long as we have that, Middle Earth will keep fighting._

/

 **A/N: So, I know a couple of you will probably have questions about the 'white colossal titan/Azog' thats mentioned and evidently kicked a hole in the wall...well this is basically a snapshot type thing in the middle of Bilbo and Thorin's story, so I might continue at some point or do another one shot, I might not *shrugs***

 **Yeahhhh I know I'm difficult :P**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked it, let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading xx**


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